So... How'd Your Day Go?

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Originally Posted by Kevin

D- what an odd story. Odd that someone would claim ... Well, you know.

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People have sued over stranger, more ludicrous things. I know the 'Ways aren't anything that will ever be mainstream, but I've done all right with commissions and therein lies the rub. If you can't get the rights, get anything you can...Preliminary hearing is later today to see if there are grounds to proceed. And given the fact that she had previously admitted to taking the villanelles in the plagiarism case does not bode well. Still a bit worried, not because I'm unprepared, but because people can be fickle.

There are better ways to do things, especially with writing. The human capacity to create is one of our greatest gifts, I don't understand why some people feel the need to commandeer the work of others. What is behind the reasoning? If it isn't yours, don't take it and then pitch a fit when the rightful owner steps in. This is what entitlement fosters. It is also one of the most fulsome aspects of humanity.

What has me worried is that with the plagiarism case, only the poems directly connected to the Star Socks Fox were required to prove the authorship, roughly about 5% of the entire body of work. This time the project as a whole is required, both the physical and digital copies. Everything is in order, dated, notarized, and authorship verified with copyrights attached. But no one has ever seen everything. Even as much as I post for critique...Tip of the iceberg. I specialize in chaos theory and butterfly effect with my work, no one sees the multitude of threads that crisscross and intersect in a thriving web of nonsense. The level of detail straddles the line between painful and insane.

I have a pretty good idea of what her ploy is about and it isn't just the commissions...:distress: My working manuscript will be out of my hands and that terrifies me.

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Originally Posted by Darkkin

I have a pretty good idea of what her ploy is about and it isn't just the commissions...:distress: My working manuscript will be out of my hands and that terrifies me.

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Might it be about attempting reinstatement of her education - possibly at another educational facility? Another issue is that she might have convinced parents/family that she was in the right, so she has to go through with this to save face with them.
Presumably you have full backups of the manuscript?
Possibly she is trying to get into a position where defending yourself costs you money, and she hopes you will concede due to being unable to afford legal fees.
Any number of permutations really, but those date stamps etc. must prevail in the end.

I just took my son to the Veteran's Home so he could volunteer with his JROTC unit. Along the way, we saw a local Cub Scout troop planting flags in the Veteran's Cemetery. Back in our neighborhood, most of our neighbors are flying their American flags.

Our veterans serve ALL Americans. Not one party, or ethnicity or ideology. We need to set aside all this stupid, childish bickering and think of THEIR sacrifice. Happy Veteran's Day.

So there may be a riot after all in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. :( Apparently the rioters are gonna be pissed off Hillary supporters who hate the fact Trump won. It's apparently gonna happen tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by The Green Shield

So there may be a riot after all in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. :( Apparently the rioters are gonna be pissed off Hillary supporters who hate the fact Trump won. It's apparently gonna happen tomorrow.

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At least they were nice enough to schedule it in advance..? Sorry to hear that, GS, no doubt a scary situation. On that note, though, I love your town. My company has a couple of satellite offices there, and I went on a trip last year to rebuild their server environment. Loved the area, the coast, and even took a drive to Biloxi for some gambling.

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Originally Posted by Bishop

At least they were nice enough to schedule it in advance..? Sorry to hear that, GS, no doubt a scary situation. On that note, though, I love your town. My company has a couple of satellite offices there, and I went on a trip last year to rebuild their server environment. Loved the area, the coast, and even took a drive to Biloxi for some gambling.

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Yeah, even revealed exactly where it'd be and the time. At Cathedral Square on Dauphin Street from around 4:30 to 5:00 pm. Luckily I don't live near there, but I feel bad for those who do. D:

And thanks for the comment, Bishop. :) Were you able to experience the sights and food Mobile has to offer?

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Originally Posted by Phil Istine

Might it be about attempting reinstatement of her education - possibly at another educational facility? Another issue is that she might have convinced parents/family that she was in the right, so she has to go through with this to save face with them.

Any number of permutations really, but those date stamps etc. must prevail in the end.

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The judge looked slightly shocked when I handed over my annotated WIP portfolio...:apathy: The number of Post It notes attached denoting the different plot threads and story sequences is a little scary. He asked me if I had been working on it a while after I handed over my Moleskines, too. Date stamps and records for the 'Ways stretch back to 2012, including a poetry anthology that contains the original poem Strangeways to Nowhere. The early pieces don't have the regimented structure of the more recent works, but the the evolution of the project is clear. Like the ivy I have on my window ledge, this started off as a tiny snippet of nothing and morphed into a behemoth.

Against an overwhelming body of evidence that the poems are not works belonging to the public domain, the judge dismissed the case and stated that the poems may not be used without the written permission of the author. And that the plaintiff had no claim, either creative or monetary, to the aforementioned works. Not now, not ever.

The whole plot and plan behind this mess...Turns out she is still trying to use the pieces as a part of her capstone project of found poetry for her degree. She thought that by suing for the rights and commissions, she could gain access to the work as a whole by means of making it public record. That as the plaintiff in the case, she would be provided with a complete copy of the original files and complete transcripts. She can get the transcripts, but my files were review by the court in private.

The judge was quick to set her straight on that point when she demanded to know why she didn't get a copy, while the court did. All I had to do was prove that files were mine; she had to substantiate the grounds of her claim, that the pieces were actually hers according to the definition of 'found poetry'. The contested records are to remain confidential, the contents sealed. The burden of proof of ownership was proven beyond all shadow of doubt. Hopefully this will be the end of it.

Mum was right when she told me, never underestimate the human capacity for stupidity...I really wish that weren't the case, but yeah...

Lessons gleaned from this: Write your own shit, be proud of the fact that it is yours, but be aware of its flaws, and you might learn something about yourself along the way. Occasionally, those who are less than nothing find the courage to roar about something that is definitely more than nothing.

Found out the magazine I submitted to a little while ago was discontinued.

Damn.

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Originally Posted by danielstj

Found out the magazine I submitted to a little while ago was discontinued.

Damn.

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I feel your pain. :(

Yeah, a couple of my published stories were to magazines now no longer in business (or not accepting submissions). Internet 'zines don't stay around very long usually (at least my mystery/thriller/crime mags). A lot of them now are asking for "cutting edge" fiction, whatever that is.:grin: